Lab Tours: Celebrating National Medical Laboratory Week at SPH & MSJ
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Have you ever wondered what happens behind the laboratory doors?
Celebrate National Medical Laboratory Week with the SPH and MSJ Laboratory teams, April 14-20, 2024!
Tour the St. Paul’s Hospital Laboratory! (2nd floor Providence Building)
Wednesday April 17, 2024
09:00, 10:00, 11:00 & 12:00
Watch for it! April 15 Canada Place and Science World will be lit up in purple in celebration of lab week! See more about Lights for Labs – across Canada>
Get to know your Providence Lab Teams and Services!
The Providence Health Care Laboratory Team is supported by 35 Medical Professionals, 5 Team Leads, 15 Technical Coordinators, 170 Medical Laboratory Technologists and 175 Medical Laboratory Assistants.
It provides routine and highly specialized diagnostic services and consultation to clinicians and patients throughout British Columbia and the Yukon, with diagnostic services including:
- Surgical Pathology
- Autopsy Pathology
- BC Provincial Renal Pathology
- Clinical Chemistry
- Hematopathology
- Transfusion Medicine
- Microbiology
- Virology
- Point-of-Care Testing
Pre and Post Analytical (PPA)
PPA is the interface between the laboratory, the patient, and their care team.
PPA is responsible for sample collection (phlebotomy), receiving specimens from the hospital and community and preparing the samples for testing.
Collections using SunQuest Collect no longer require requisitions, improving the patient identification process and patient safety. Once test results are ready, our division ensures that the report is delivered quickly to the patient’s care providers.
Anatomic Pathology
Anatomic Pathology diagnoses disease by examining tissue removed from living patients either by biopsy or during surgery. Our division also performs autopsies to determine the extent of disease and to establish cause of death.
Anatomic Pathology reports over 30,000 surgical pathology cases and 4,000 cytology cases every year.
BC Provincial Renal Pathology provides diagnostic medical renal biopsy services for all patients in British Columbia.
We operate with a streamlined workflow, rapid microwave processing, automated slides stainer/coverslipper, automated special stains and immunohistochemistry.
Our specialty areas of expertise are kidney, cardiovascular, breast and gastrointestinal pathology, but also report on a wide range of specimens and tissue from all body sites.
Clinical Chemistry
Clinical Chemistry operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide biofluid (i.e., blood, urine, and other fluids) test results and interpretive expertise to all hospital services including heart and lung, HIV/AIDS, mental health, emergency, critical care, kidney care, elder care, and numerous surgical programs.
The laboratory is also the provincial provider for many specialized diagnostic services including endocrine, lipid, immunologic, hematologic, and neurodegenerative disease diagnostics, and therapeutic drug monitoring.
SPH is an international leader in the development and application of mass spectrometry to a broad range of clinical chemistry services.
Last year we implemented new state-of-the-art automation systems for high volume clinical chemistry and immunoassay testing with higher throughput and capacity while promoting environment sustainability.
The new systems generate up to 258,000 tons less CO2 emission and up to 78% less solid waste, 43% less sample volume and 36% less water used per test result.
Hematopathology and Transfusion Medicine
Hematopathology and Transfusion Medicine provides both diagnostic testing and therapeutic blood and blood product support.
Hematology performs tests on blood, bone marrow and body fluids ranging from routine complete blood counts and blood film reviews to complex flow cytometry and technically demanding bone marrow biopsies.
Our division is one of the largest CD4 testing facilities in all North America with our service supporting the BC Centre of Excellence in HIV/AIDS.
Coagulation performs diagnostic services ranging from routine to complex testing of individuals with bleeding and clotting disorders.
We support both the Adult and Pediatric Hemophilia Clinics located at SPH and BC Children’s Hospital and is the sole provider in British Columbia for select, highly specialized coagulation tests.
Transfusion Medicine provides vital therapeutic support, ranging from liquid blood products such as red blood cells, platelets, and plasma to fractionated plasma proteins.
On a provincial level, we coordinate the Blood Product Redistribution Program, which ensures that precious blood products are not outdated in smaller hospitals around the province.
Medical Microbiology and Virology
Medical Microbiology and Virology provides a wide range of high-quality, patient-centered diagnostic services, as well as expert consultation on the prevention and management of infections.
Our division uses various technologies to provide diagnostic testing that is optimized to best serve the needs PHC’s unique patient population including people with HIV/AIDS, people with cystic fibrosis and the vulnerable population of Vancouver’s urban core.
Microbiology services include routine and specialized bacteriology, mycology, mycobacteriology, molecular diagnostics, and infection control.
Virology services include serological testing (CMV IgG, Hepatitis A, B and C, HIV Ag/Ab, and active vitamin B12) and molecular diagnostics by PCR for numerous pathogens.
Recent implementation includes the Wasp Lab integrating artificial intelligent-based robotics with digital images and automation.
Point of Care Testing Program
The Point of Care Testing Program provides rapid medical diagnostic testing outside of the laboratory and near the patient, supporting patient care programs including the Emergency, Operating Room, Acute Care and Maternity Wards, Diabetes, Thrombosis, Rapid Access Addiction and John Ruedy Clinics as well as Residentials and Community Dialysis Units.
Mount Saint Joseph Hospital Laboratory
The MSJ Hospital Laboratory provides routine and STAT laboratory services to patients at Mount Saint Joseph’s and PHC residential sites. The outpatient laboratory offers blood collection and specimen drop-off services.
Testing performed on-site at MSJ includes general chemistry and hematology as well as dispensing of blood products.
For more information and a test catalog, visit https://www.providencelaboratory.org.